Apparatus for distilling crude oil and other liquids



Sept. 25, 1934. s. w. 'r. BECK APPARATUS FOR DISTILLING CRUDE OIL AND OTHER LIQUIDS Filed Feb. 9, 1932 v w Z w W I V .3 w W Q a V x M #w b tank through a supply pipe 22 which may be controlled by a hand valve 23,the flow of crude oil into the tank being also controlled by a valve 24 manipulated in its opening and closing movements in accordance with the rising and falling movements of float 25 which is connected to the valve by any suitable system of links and levers. The level of the oil in the chamber or tank 14 is, therefore, maintainedat any desired height above the floor, for instance, as shown in the drawing; The substantially vertically disposed plate which comprises the dividing partition between the oil tank 14 and the distilling chamber terminates above the floor or bottorn'of the unit, lef'i i horizontally disposed, elongated, and narrow slotlike aperture 26 through which oil may continu: ously pass from the tank 14 into the upper end of the distilling chamber. Oil thus introduced under the desired static head will flow by. gre vity from its point of introduction to the lower end of t e m e Wh e i a ihte a wel er the .3 r v with a. b le 8. the eil taheihe h' this, trap constituting a'liquid seal for. the vapors gen: erated in the distilling chamber w e the trap does not prevent the outflow of oil, fro thefehamher to a point of discharge. such as indicated at 30. htefsrshly e 9 a ses hreheh. t e shit .11. 1 trated, and discharged therefrom, will pass irnrne: distely We ee ti. hhi o s la desieh e will be hereinafter more fully eigplained. I

h passage i we nd of he e amhett9. the other, the oil. is subjected to a heating gperation, heat being applied to the bottom plate 10 and this plate raised to any desired temperature, The heat may be generated in various waysrbl fi Where h s is a la Whi h usu lyhe ea he t 1 6 1 m DY 1i$ l lY- hi? i 3&5 burner positioned beneath, the flogr. of the 9. 91. 1.?- eel-1 A gas supply pipe, for. instance, is indie. ed;

; at 31 and three gas burner units, t 32, 33, e 34,

respectively, these units being conneeted to. the ha m n. y hehp pesh -fl 3 and .4- 0: s ti in each bra i e a val Y for eeh: r l the fl w of r m he su pl pe: -te.

he a s ed-as ur d eaeh i-the eyal es.

V a teme e l eeh e ed 6 e ulate, thev as. l t e by ea shew. te he ese bedz-. he th ee' eh e means are den calehstr et en. hd hev e fi e a s efei enly needthehe ere,

he s r h.-

R f r p rti u ar noihi une 3, t will. be.

obser ed a ex e i v rt ca y. downwardly.

f em het t e bottom ei her dist l n ehamr; ber. is a tube 35, the upper edgeoi.thistuloeheing,

sealed to the top of the chamberand; thelower.

: similar fluid, and upon the upperlevelof the body of mercury thus enclosed rests thelower face of; a. ston. 38. wh e e e y fit sainst he nner wa l f ube T c ate introduc ion 05: the piston 38 intotube36, it is,providedwith an,

; air. duct 39 extending from top to bottomsothat,

the air trapped belowthe piston and abovethe. bod f mer u m s e reeeseape sthe. piston is. lowered. Upon the bottq n of the pie; ton, andformingthe effective face thereof; is a. rotatable disc 40 heldrin position by the,lower,en d= of the central. rod 4 1, and which. disc has an, ecc pert .2 ic ma he reushtihte. or out of register with the duct 39-,in thepiston, @fis i lnlqwfiring p fi ll llQ 9.:%I per u e a e h e te and afi h heris eh.

is positioned, disc 40 may be rotated so that aperture 42 and duct 38 are out of register, as shown in Figure 4, the disc then being clamped in such position by any suitable means, such, for instance, as by lock nuts 43 threaded on the rod 41 above the upper end of the piston.

Rod 41 is continued upwardly beyond tube 36 and has a flattened portion at its upper end proidhg w th a s ri 9 er ure there n su for instance, as shown at 44. Through any one of these apertures, as desired, is passed a cotter pin pr the like 45, which pin also passes through an aperture formed in the adjacent end of a lever 46pivotally supported at 47 on the top plate of the distilling chamber. A compression spring 48 positigned to the opposite side of the fulcrum point 4'7 of the lever carries the weight of the lever. and also tends to maintain piston 38 in close contaet with the upper surface of the body of mercury. Lever 46 projects from the side of the d st ll he hem ses" a its o er end s rive seehred. h hhheh eh v rtieal di hqse ihh.

.9 has its ow r en pivot:- ell eh eeted. e e. rank. Q fi ed on. one end of e red the ehhe i e as f whi h r d i onli tiq 9: 5 91M? y he erreneehieh o a t Jus de cr ed it l t. at. the valve wi l b m nipulat d n. aeeeitieh w th. eheh es. h ve um o h bo y i f'eej' by hete se er eet a s n m ratu e. Q Plat .0. e he i i n hamb r. tl he it te e s that, y th mea u deseh bed h s hette h at ma e mai ai ed. a e y ih desires. em eratur increa in tem era: this her e she the d si s imitv ehs hs. erpansion of the mercury, which turn resultsin Qh t he 9E Q he; ee lew to the heat n unit ehs 'eeerees temperature s he e tqm, ist hes lt ee hehe se sf. ho f he he tihe; m... -h ee' ieehhee he ntrol. ni s r the yre.- i st. d s ri es. re. h v eed i s hev en th. ef: the eh. h u a. a er r. smal er number Qtthese shit he be. s d. esire he umb seleeteel heih dependen em het p n. he. e h a the ehsthh h he; h em eratu r eh s r hl hhhhes eeh hiushs h r- 9 he; ham r. s. unn hd; s teh'd e hemises u hal a he ime. hehea e he ea e ned emper tu e T shirts.

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first unit practically entirely separated from all of its lighter ingredients, only pitch, tar, and asphaltic compositions remaining.

While the apparatus just described is particularly suited for the distillation of crude oil, it will be apparent that it may be employed without substantial change in the distillation of other products. Also, where high temperatures must necessarily be employed, it may be necessary to replace the mercury-type thermostat with one which will function. more accurately at such temperatures. Again, for certain operations, difierent types of distilling chamber bottoms may be substituted for that disclosed. A great advantage of the copper-steel plate bottom, however, resides in its ability to quickly and evenly distribute the heat applied so that the upper surface of the bottom, over any one transverse strip, has the same temperature, the copper plates efiecting the immediate transfer of heat laterally due to the great heat conductivity of copper.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:--

1. An .oil distilling apparatus comprising an elongated chamber having a flat bottom inclined to the horizontal over which oil may pass in a thin sheet, and means for heating said chamber from below, said means including a plurality of gas burners together with mechanism for controlling the action of each in accordance with the' temperature of the chamber bottom lying immediately above the same.

2. In an oil distilling apparatus, in combination, a distilling chamber having a slightly inclined flat floor or bottom, means for discharging oil onto said bottom at the upper end thereof in a substantially horizontal direction and under substantially uniform pressure, and means for heating said bottom to the desired temperature, said last mentioned means including a gas burner beneath the bottom, a. valve controlled conduit leading to said burner, a thermostat responsive to the temperature of the bottom and connected to the valve for automatically controlling the position of the valve in accordance with the temperature of the bottom.

3. In an oil distilling apparatus, in combination, a distilling chamber having a flat floor or bottom slightly inclined to the horizontal, means for discharging oil in a wide thin stream onto the bottom at its upper end, and means for heating the bottom to the desired temperature, said last mentioned means including a gas burner beneath the bottom, a valve controlled conduit leading to said burner, a thermostat comprising a receptacle for expansible fluid mounted directly on the bottom, and a piston fitting within said receptacle and resting directly upon the surface of the fluid contained therein, said piston being connected to the gas control valve.

4. An oil distilling apparatus comprising an elongated chamber having a fiat inclined bottom, said bottom being composed of a plurality of copper plates and a plurality of steel plates, the copper plates alternating with the steel plates and all of said plates being secured together so as to form a compact, sectionally continuous, composite unit, and means for heating said bottom from beneath the same.

. GEORGE W. T. BECK. 

